Lessons Along the Way

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Lost in the everyday events of life,
I need to get away.
The woods behind my house provide the answer.
Beckoning me to follow an overgrown path,
I answer my need, striding eagerly,
across the lawn and into the woods.

Warmly dressed, I enter the woods.
I feel all the burdens of a humdrum life,
yet wishing to forget my cares most eagerly.
I push forward leading me away,
down this heavily wooded path.
Sometimes nature is the only call to answer.

Is wanting to forget really the answer?
Leaving civilization and taking to the woods?
Often I think as we travel along life's path
forgetting is a great way to re-energize one's life.
As the ad says, "Just take me away."
Breathe the fresh clean air, and embrace it eagerly.

Exhilarated, I push on eagerly,
looking for my answer.
Suddenly, I hear a noise ... and look away,
tripping over a grate in the middle of my woods.
How much, I think, is this like life,
eyes focused elsewhere, and tripping on our path.

I gaze solemnly at this bump in my path.
No!  This is something to be considered eagerly.
Carpe diem, grab onto life,
Pause, and take time to seek the answer.
Use this rusty grate in the midst of these woods,
Don't just throw your opportunity away.

Minute by minute our lives waste away,
because we seldom consider the bumps in our path.
Take the time to learn from nature and these woods.
Be willing to question, and live life eagerly.
Be careful when searching for each answer,
and you'll discover a more rewarding life.

Don't just run away; embrace each moment eagerly.
Ensure you are focused on your path, and search diligently for each question's answer.
Whether in cities, or fields, or woods, use that rusty grate to fulfill your life.




Author Note:  The sestina consists of six six-line (sestets) stanzas followed by a three-line envoy. Rather than use a rhyme scheme, the six ending words of the first stanza are repeated as the ending words of the other five stanzas in a set pattern. The envoy uses two of the ending words per line, again in a set pattern.

First stanza:  life, away, answer, path, eagerly, woods  ..1 ..2 ..3 ..4 ..5 ..6
Second stanza:  woods, life, eagerly, away, path, answer    ..6 ..1 ..5 .. 2 ..4 ..3
Third stanza:  answer, woods, path, life, away, eagerly  ..3 ..6 ..4 ..1 ..2 ..5
Fourth stanza:  eagerly, answer, away, woods, life, path  ..5 ..3 ..2 ..6 ..1 ..4
Fifth stanza:  path, eagerly, life, answer, woods, away  ..4 ..5 ..1 ..3 ..6 ..2
Sixth stanza:  away, path, woods, eagerly, answer, life  ..2 ..4 ..6 ..5 ..3 ..1

Concluding tercet: 
away, eagerly  ..2 ..5
path, answer  ..4 ..3
woods, life  ..6 ..1


Second stanza,Third stanza, Fourth stanza, Fifth stanza, Sixth stanza, 1